


The After Party

by Centipede



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Teens being teens, cause of that one asshole, hypermasculinity, just punching and shit lmao, secret partying, these dudes is wild, theyve got unresolved issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 08:50:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12602852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centipede/pseuds/Centipede
Summary: Prior to the Kerberos mission, Shiro convinces Matt to sneak out of their quarters and go to this super secret party being held in the deserted part of the academy.Their fun night out quickly turns sour, however, as loyalties are questioned and secrets are brought into the limelight...





	The After Party

Matt was not one to make a big fuss about anything unless those things involved pretty girls and deciphering secret encryptions from his dad at 3 in the morning.

He was usually a relaxed kid and was precise in disposition, preferring for things to be exact and clear to him.

Shiro on the other hand was not as fascinated by hacking and did not easily waver around attractive people.

He knew of other ways to have fun and so when Matt announced he may be going to bed, Shiro had other plans in mind for both of them.

"Woah, I don't know if I'm the kind of guy you want to go to some kind of frat party with..." Matt awkwardly responded, adjusting his glasses as he attempted to read the tablet screen in front of him.

Shiro watched his roommate toy with specs with a smile on his face, "You know you don't need those anymore, Matt, you got your eyeballs fixed for the mission tomorrow you're a new man."

Matt laughed at that for a while until his expression slowly melted into a fond gaze, peeling the glasses from his face as he did so.

"A new man...is that so?" He said, "Yeah, I guess you're right, I don't even know why I bought these new prescriptions anyway...I guess I just wanted to be sure."

"Well now you know." Shiro chimed in, now rummaging through his drawers for a clean shirt, eventually plucking out the dumbest shirt Matt had ever seen and throwing it on.

Plastered on Shiro's chest were the symbolic forms of 3 elements (barium, cobalt, and nitrogen), which comically enough spelled out "bacon" in that order.

Matt, jaw hanging, could not manage anything other than a wheeze as he doubled over on his bed, laughing.

Shiro looked defeated for a moment, "It's not that bad is it?"

"It's-" Matt managed to get out before he was overcome with his own laughter again, "It's-pft-I can't Shiro!"

Shiro's own composure slipped after a while and soon he laughed a bit too, "It really is a dumb shirt, isn't it...?"

"Tell you what," Matt sighed, wiping away the tears that pricked his eyes, "I'll go to the party but only if you wear that shirt, dude."

"Deal."

 

It was obvious from the beginning that neither Matt nor Shiro would be able to sleep a wink on the night before the Kerberos mission.

However, despite that, Matt would've rather stayed in his dorm wasting the night away watching funny animal videos and messaging his sister, not sneaking out of his quarters to go to some crazy party with Shiro at his side wearing a very embarrassing t-shirt.

"I can't believe this is happening, if we get caught we can say goodbye to the Kerberos mission-heck, we can say goodbye to the rest of our professional lives!" Matt hissed, pulling on his hood and burying his face in the fabric.

Shiro rolled his eyes, unable to help the smile that graced his face. Leading Matt around proved to be difficult, considering Matt had never snuck out of their dorm after hours before. Matt was also being more worrisome than usual, hiding his face and overthinking a great deal, something that unsettled Shiro.

"Come on, Matt," he soothed. "You can't be freaking out on me like this, we're almost out of here just take a few breaths and follow my lead, alright?"

Matt's expression didn't improve in the slightest, but he was no longer hiding in his jacket hood and shaking as much as he was before.

"I know..." Matt stressed out, rubbing his palms on his jeans nervously. "There's just so much at risk here that's all."

Shiro, in response shrugged, his smile unwavering, "I can't argue with that, this really is reckless, but it'll be worth it, I promise."

When Shiro was sure that the next hallway was secure and therefore free of authority figures, he made a break for it, down the hall with Matt traipsing about behind him, his shy scampering attempting to catch up with Shiro's athletic sprinting.

They eventually emerged into what seemed to be the another hallway with a staff room as one of its occupants, packed with teachers and other employees. This sight could be seen from a lengthy window that covered most of the wall to their left.

Shiro and Matt ducked and crawled beneath the expanse of the window, careful enough as to not let any part of them be seen by the staff.

Finally, they made a right and Matt followed Shiro, curious about his calm stroll.

"Hey, you look like your taking a walk in the park.

"That's because the hardest part of our journey is over.

 

~

Matt soon understood what that meant once they approached the other side of the school, which had become littered with a festering activity from the inside that could only be heard from the distance they were currently in.

Apart from working well as a school, the Garrison served its purpose after the lights went out on a weekend and most staff went home or to the staff room to waste their time.

The sturdy walls of the school could easily hold up an immense ruckus whether it be sound of an engine being tested or in this case a party held by the Garrisons very own band of notorious and highest ranking students just looking to have a good time.

What about the guards? One might ask this question when being fully aware that there are around the clock guardians always circling the premises throughout the whole school. However, ones curiosity would be sated once they realize these particular guards in this part of the school have been completely bought off by the student body's most lucrative students, so long as they don't get caught, otherwise their loyalty is granted.

Matt shook his head as Shiro explained all of this to him, "I knew this school was pretty corrupt, but this is a whole new level of abusing authority with power and privilege."

Shiro couldn't help but to laugh at that as the guards stopped them at the entrance.

"Class rank?"

Turning to Matt, Shiro added, "Oh yeah, you need to be one of the top 30 to enter, I forgot to tell you, but we don't have to worry about that." Turning back to the guard, Shiro replied, a hint of pride in his voice, "Takashi Shirogane, rank number 1."

"The guards pulled up a holographic list and nodded with approval, "Nice, I thought I recognized you!" One of the guards noted. "And what about your friend?"

Matt, still completely averse to this idea and it's overall philosophy, was tempted to back out, but considering how far he had gotten, giving up and going back did not seem like a good option.

"Name's Matt. Matt Holt, rank 2."

Again, a wave of admiration passed through the guards at being in the presence of Samuel Holt's son.

"Hey," the other guard chimed in, "Don't you two leave for Kerberos tomorrow, shouldn't sleeping in be a top priority for you guys?"

"I thought so too," Matt began, a mischievous glint in his eye. "But, I've never been to one of these before so why not party like total douche bags as if it's our last day on Earth, right?"

"Can't argue with that logic, enjoy the party, you two."

Shiro and Matt headed inside as the doors opened. Shiro held in his incoming laughter as he elbowed Matt next to him.

Matt smirked rubbing at his arm and soon began to process the vibrant life of the party as it erupted at him from all around, packed with the different sparks of life that originated from the top 30 students of the Garrison.

While these students were top of their class for a reason, Matt could not help but find some of the activities incredibly simple-minded.

For instance to his right Matt watched a couple of students he recognised flipping emptied out red cups in a row and watched an ancient game of Twister result in quite the mess of tangled up bodies.

"Hey, Matt!" Shiro called out to him. "Come, your gonna love this."

Matt hurried along to Shiro's side, and was led into a room where students huddled around a gaming counsel, watching two opponents face off against eachother, rapidly tapping away at their respective controllers.

"Woah, that's so cool." Matt marvelled, a smile breaking through on his face.

"You can play, of course, but it'll take a while, this is the most popular thing to do around here."

"SHIROGANE, MY MAIN DAWG!"

From behind them erupted a none other than Doug Davenport, the 3rd highest ranking student in the academy and one of the best engineers to ever grace the academy. Doug could've easily outmatched Shiro had it not been for his disciplinary issues in the past.

Shiro grinned, incredibly surprised yet elated by Doug's sudden appearance. He greeted his classmate with a welcoming "bro hug" and a brief handshake.

Right after, Doug prompted, adjusting the toothpick in his mouth, "Never thought I'd see your goody-two-shoes butt around here ever again buddy, so what brings you here?"

Shiro, with a faint flush of red on his cheeks replied, "I've been so busy lately, my rank's been hard to maintain but here I am now with my buddy Matt letting loose before-"

"Your asses leave for Kerberos, huh?" Doug butted in, nodding knowingly, "Good plan, I like it, and totally something I would do."

"You're always here, man."

"Touché, amigo." Doug agreed, and for a moment Shiro caught the familiar glint in his eye as he added, "Hey, you wanna know who else is here?"

Shiro becoming suddenly cautious about Doug's intentions, shrugged.

"Don't know, Doug, who could it be?"

And without warning, a crash was heard along with a symphony of glass shattering and people shouting at one another. Matt could detect on Shiro's face that he recognised at least one of the voices.

"Speaking of the devil."

Shiro practically snapped with a rage Matt had never seen before and gasped when Shiro proceeded to grab Doug by the collar with his hands.

"You should let go of me, Shiro..."

"Screw that, why the hell is he here, he's just a fucking kid!"

"His rank obviously, he's the only teenager who's broken through the top 30 in 10 years." Doug scoffed, shaking his head as he did so, "I would admire the kid if he wasn't such an crazy idiot."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means if you don't put that brat under control, he will continue to crash my parties and act like he's better than everybody." Doug hissed, practically spitting all of his words in his own anger. "Shiro, the kid has no respect for anybody and if he does not stay out of my way, I will get him kicked out."

Shiro, gritting his teeth, was about to make his leave towards the noise but not before sealing the argument with a lasting blow, "Say whatever you want about how he 'crashes' your parties, it's not crashing if he's technically invited and if he's starting a fight or a commotion it's because someone messed with him."

Doug scoffed, setting his jaw in such a way that it seemed he would explode at any minute.

“Now, Shirogane, you’re not accusing me of anything are you?”

Shiro, who was about an inch or two taller than Doug, seemed to actually tower much higher than his classmate as his eyes narrowed dangerously towards him.

Doug remained unflinching but Matt did not miss the flicker of fear that swept over his eyes as he slowly bowed his head, pretending, without a care in the world, that Shiro was not about to beat the living shit out of him.

Cocky bastard, Matt thought, shaking his head and biting his cheek.

Shiro made a move to leave when he heard that same voice cry out in despair, which caused him to turn back around and, with one swift motion, punch Doug square in the face.

A outcry erupted from the fellow classmen that now surrounded them in the hall and Matt immediately rushed to Shiro to shove him back.

“Are you crazy?!” Matt cried, he could feel his heart thumping at practically a thousand beats per minute.

Shiro, too far gone to pay any attention to Matt’s pleas to leave, was in a state of oblivion, his heart thirsting for vengeance.

“If I go there and find him getting his ass kicked I’ll make sure that everything is stripped from you-your reputation, your privileges will all be gone, do you understand, dirt bag?”

Not waiting for a reply from Doug who was trembling on the floor, attempting to stand up, Shiro rushed out towards the source of the sound, Matt trailing behind him, completely terrified.

Shiro threw open the door, it was the main room with most of the party games.

Both him and Matt froze at the sight before them:

Keith stood there at the center of the room, his trusty knife in his hand, desperately bandage wrapped, breathing in and out in both rage and exhaustion. Students who had taken to trying to fight with him lay on the floor, not terribly injured, but hurt regardless.

Shiro without minding the students around him, some sticking to the walls, acting as bystanders to the occasion.

Keith, startled by his presence practically dropped his weapon but held his ground, an angry look returning to his face.

“You here to tell me off too?”

Shiro, grabbing Keith effortlessly by the arm, began to walk out the door with Matt still at his heel, “What have I told you about these assholes?” He spat out in Keith’s direction.

“Don’t you fucking-“ Keith shouted, attempting to wriggle free as they headed for another room on the other side.

Eventually they reached a vacant room, which stored supplies and old gadgets, the three of them made their way inside and Matt shut the door behind them.

“Shut up and listen to what I’m going to say.” Shiro hissed once they were inside, not relinquishing his hold on Keith.

“No, fuck you, you’re always telling me what to do-“

“Keith, all Shiro has ever tried to do is be a good role model and look out for you—“ Matt interjected, not being able to help himself.

“Well it’s suffocating!?”

Shiro looked like he was about to slap Keith, but seemed to restrain himself as he pushed the boy out in front of him, “Watch your mouth!”

“You—“

“I said shut up and listen.”

The pair remained in silence for a while, keeping unwavering eye contact, Keith was adamant on remaining incredibly pissed, whereas Shiro’s expression began to soften and grow sad.

“Why do you do these things Keith?” He began, a hint of helplessness in his voice that made Keith look down and lose his tough composure. “I tell you not to do something and you do it anyway...you can’t be in places like this, no matter what rank you are, these people are older than you, Keith, don’t try to force yourself to hang with them, talk to your peers, they’ll understand you better—“

“I...” Keith started, arms crossed, gaze vacant and glassy. “can’t believe you’re lecturing me right now.”

“Yes, because you deserve one.”

“What I deserve is go not feel alone anymore, Shiro, you said to make friends.” Keith countered. “Well I’ve been trying my fucking hardest, but no one likes me.”

“Keith—“

“No one ever wants to sit with me during meals and my bunk mates and crew mates are a bunch of pretentious douchebags...I just—“

“What?” Shirt prodded. “Came here as some sort of last resort?”

“No, I followed you!” Keith replied, wringing his hands, “ I was going to your room to tell you, but you left and I—“

“Tell me what, Keith?”

“I’m dropping out.”

Matt and Shiro, both shouted “what?” at the same time when a large commotion was heard in the room they had evacuated from, much older voices seemed to triumph over the surprised shouts that developed suddenly.

“We’re busted!” Matt cried out. “Shit, I knew this would happen, Shiro, if they find us we can kiss Kerberos goodbye...Shiro are you listening?!”

Shiro who was still staring at Keith’s direction seemed completely unoccupied by the events developing just a few doors down. He was still trying to process Keith’s words.

“You’re...no Keith, you can’t!” Shiro managed, completely astonished. “You deserve to be in the academy more than anybody, you want to be here, don’t let a couple of assholes get to you.”

“I don’t want this, Shiro, I can’t stand it anymore, it’s too much and—I just wanted to do things my way.”

“And you still can, Keith, once you’re old enough you’ll be the one calling the shots, you can do anything you want to do and go anywhere.”

“What’s stopping me from doing that now?”

Matt couldn’t let this argument go on for much longer, not with the chance that they would all be discovered from all the noise they were making from within the supplied room. However, he couldn’t necessarily bring himself to stop it for obvious reasons.

If they were to leave this discussion off at where it was now, then there was no doubt that Shiro would worry throughout the whole trip about Keith’s whereabouts since at this point Keith was set on dropping out.

“Keith, please...” Shiro pressed, his glassy eyes reflecting nothing but worry. “I can’t have you running off to some unknown place, at least I know you’re safe here working on your studies and gaining hands on piloting experience.”

Keith laughed, but his face showed like he would much rather break down in tears, “So what now!?” he insisted, “Am I supposed to helplessly stay here and wait for you so I can tell you where I’m going, no I—“

“Shiro is saying nothing of the sort, Keith.” Matt interjected, hoping to resolve the situation at hand. “He just wants you to take this opportunity that you’ve been given to study here at the Garrison—you’ve been doing incredibly well, Keith, don’t let the students here get the best of you.” He then added, with much more passion, “I know what it’s like to have people look down on you or act jealous of you because of certain advantages that you’ve been given, I mean the only reason I’m second to Shiro is because I’m a huge nerd but that’s all there is to me. I was brought down by my own because they thought my dad was the only reason I was doing so well, but I persevered and I showed them what I was made of, and you can do the same by making a name for yourself and showing others that Shiro wasn’t the only thing that got you here!”

“I just...don’t want to feel alone.” Keith replied after a deafening silence was shared between them, the fuss from the party had died down as more and more students were being escorted out, most likely to their respective doom.

“It’s just that, I act like I don’t need anybody but that’s not true, I’ve tried getting people to like me but I don’t know how to do that, I never know what to say, so I just act like I don’t care.”

Shiro, providing his usual brotherly pat on Keith’s shoulder, “Don’t ever think that people won’t like you no matter how hard you try, just be your true honest self and persevere like Matt said, you’ll find that people’s impressions of you will change over time...just don’t try too hard, you gained my friendship and respect by being you.”

“Fine, I get it.”

After a beat or two, Shiro sighed, he didn’t believe Keith, but he knew that Keith’s loyalty to him was incredibly cemented and that he needed the “okay” from Shiro in order to leave.

Judging from Keith’s defeated expression Shiro knew it was true, and he would feel sorry leaving him behind for a year, but he had to let Keith stick it out and prove himself like Shiro knew he could.

 

It wasn’t until the day of liftoff when they had all made it into their rooms incredibly late (after evading the several guards and staff surrounding the party scene), that Keith had sent Shiro off with his parting words.

“I don’t want you worrying about me, or anything so after a lot of thinking, which I hardly ever do, I’ve decided to stay, but under one condition.”

Shiro was about to protest, worry returning to him like a slap on the face.

“Just hear me out.” Keith began. “I’m going to give this all one more shot and do my best for a year and when you come back, if I still don’t like it here you have to promise to let me go.”

Shiro smiled then, Keith’s thoughtful words had come through without their usual impulsiveness and tenacity. He had actually deeply considered what he was going to say and best of all he had confidence in it. “Negotiations like this look good on you Keith and if I’m being honest it’ll get you far, you have my word, just stay in track and be great just like I know you can be.”

Keith laughed a bit at that, “Be great, huh...yeah I will.”

Matt stumbled into the scene slapping a hand on Shiro’s back, practically scaring the larger man.

“We ready for lift off, I just said bye to Katie over there.” He signaled at his sister, she stood a bit father than the rest of them watching the scene unfold.

The 3 guys all waved in her direction simultaneously and she waved back a second after, shy smile on her face.

“Yeah we’re just about ready here.” Shiro replied, nodding in Keith’s direction.

The two hugged one last time before parting ways, Keith then watched Shiro climb the flight of stairs to the aircraft, Matt following his lead.

“Good luck out there, Holt.” Keith supplied.

Matt turned around, flashing his usually kind smile, “Good luck down here, Kogane, you’re gonna kick serious ass, alright?”

Keith nodded in return, attempting not to burst out into peels of laughter.

 

Once the two were in the space craft it took about a few more minutes until the lift off commenced, Keith had been ushered out into the safe zone near Katie to watch it all go down.

And as they shot off into a blue sky devoid of any clouds, Keith’s stomach sank and he couldn’t help but feel that a strange foreboding was in store as he gazed at the suffocating trail of sparks and smoke that the spacecraft had left in its wake.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! You made it to the end, thanks for reading! This fic was supposed to be Shatt but like the new season kind of made me uncertain about their age difference so I was like nah I'm not gonna do that so here I am now instead! This was supposed to be one of my entries for the Lancito zine but I had nooo time to complete all 3 of my submissions, anyways hope you guys enjoyed it and if you would want to see more voltron stuff from me leave your comments down below, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.


End file.
